THE ACCC has begun landmark legal action against most of the nation’s petrol retailers and a fuel market data company it has been investigating since 2012, alleging they have ripped off motorists by sharing pricing information.

In proceedings commenced in the Federal Court, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims “information sharing arrangements” between market data company Informed Sources and BP, Caltex, Woolworths, Eureka (Coles Express) and 7-Eleven allowed the petrol retailers to communicate with each other about their prices, thereby “substantially lessening competition” in breach of the law.

“The ACCC alleges that fuel retailers can use, and have used, the Informed Sources service as a near real-time communication device in relation to petrol pricing.

“In particular, it is alleged that retailers can propose a price increase to their competitors and monitor the response to it. If, for example, the response is not sufficient, they can quickly withdraw the proposal and may punish competitors that have not accepted the proposed increased price,” Mr Sims said.

Woolworths responded: “To be clear, Woolworths Petrol uses Informed Sources to gather actual published prices in the market to ensure we are the most competitive.

“We do not understand how shutting down these websites and apps will benefit consumers.

“Woolworths will strongly defend our use of Informed Sources for the benefit of our customers.”

Caltex said it “strongly rejects the allegation that the (Informed Sources) service is in any way illegal. Caltex will defend the ACCC action”.

But Australian Automobile Association CEO Andrew McKellar said: “Motorists strongly support the legal action taken by the ACCC.

“The allegations of coordinated price sharing among fuel retailers are deeply concerning and should be examined thoroughly.”